North Cook News

Winnetka 36 school district, which serves 1,560 students in five schools, Kindergarten through eighth grade, has announced it is now mask optional.

The announcement came Sunday in an email to parents in response to a Sangamon County court ruling late Friday that declared Gov. J.B. Pritzker's school student mask requirement "null and void."

“The Winnetka Public Schools will be a mask optional environment, aligned with the TRO. We recommend staff and students wear masks in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), but masks are optional,” an email sent from the school district reads.

However, masks will still be required on school buses, the school system noted.

“Masks are still required on buses due to the Federal CDC order,” the email reads.

In a 30-page ruling Friday night, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow declared Pritzker's blanket state emergency school rules on masks and tests through the Illinois Department of Public Health "null and void." She said the governor and his agencies have been mandating rules upon students illegally.

“Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain," she wrote.

The school reminded teachers to tell student the environments is safe without masks.

“Remind students that we are safe in school with or without a mask. Remind them that we wash our hands and stay home when we are sick/not feeling well,” the email reads.

An appeal by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to reinstate the ban is pending.

"Does that Face Mask Really Protect You," a 2010 research article by Dr. Larry E. Bowen of the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Ala., fit various types of masks on a mannequin to study their effectiveness, found that wearing surgical, bandana and dust masks offer "very little protection" and concluded that "wearing these face masks may produce a false sense of protection."

Dr. Trisha Kocanda is superintendent of Winnetka Public Schools. As of 2019 she makes a base salary of $236,357. Kocanda has been superintendent since 2014.